Procurement has opened for a new £8bn national construction framework covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with SCAPE seeking to establish long-term partnerships between public sector organisations and construction contractors.
SCAPE has published the Tender Notice for its Construction Works and Services Framework, which is intended to provide a compliant and actively managed procurement route for public sector clients while offering greater choice and flexibility in the appointment of delivery partners.
The framework will have a total capacity of £8bn over an initial four-year period and is fully aligned with the Procurement Act 2023. It is expected to operate from 2027 to 2031, with an option to extend the arrangement by a further two years.
Craig Murphy, director of frameworks at SCAPE, explained: “Informed by extensive market engagement with both contractors and public sector organisations, SCAPE’s Construction Works and Services Framework responds to an evolved legislative environment alongside demand for greater choice and flexibility over delivery partners.”
The framework has been developed following extensive pre-market engagement involving public sector organisations and more than 100 construction industry bodies and companies. SCAPE said feedback from clients and the supply chain has influenced the structure of the new framework, with the arrangement intended to reflect changing requirements across the public sector.
The framework will provide an accelerated route to market for a range of organisations, including local authorities, emergency services, housing associations and universities. It will cover new-build construction, refurbishment, retrofit and longer-term programmes of work across a range of sectors and project values.
Five lots will form the framework, with each designed around specific geographical, sectoral or project requirements. SCAPE plans to appoint three delivery partners to each lot, providing clients with greater choice when selecting contractors.
Lot 1 will cover construction works and services in England, ranging from small-scale projects through to schemes exceeding £500m, with a total category value of £4bn. Lot 2 will cover residential construction in England, including decarbonisation, retrofit and maintenance, with projects ranging from smaller works to schemes exceeding £500m and a total category value of £2bn.
Lot 3 will cover construction, housing, works and services in Wales, with projects ranging from smaller schemes to projects exceeding £150m and a total category value of £1bn. Lot 4 will cover lower-value construction, housing, works and services in Northern Ireland for projects valued up to £15m, with a total category value of £250m.
The fifth lot will cover higher-value construction, housing, works and services in Northern Ireland, applying to projects valued at £10m and above. It has a total category value of £750m.
The structure is intended to allow public sector organisations to procure contractors according to the specific requirements of individual projects rather than adopting a single delivery model across all schemes. A competitive selection process will enable clients to ask project-specific questions and assess prospective delivery partners against their individual requirements.
The framework is also designed to support longer-term relationships between public sector clients and contractors, potentially allowing organisations to develop delivery programmes rather than procuring every project through an entirely separate process.
Murphy concluded: “Building on the success of our current framework – which has successfully delivered hundreds of often high-profile public sector projects over the last few years – its next-generation successor offers no less than five sector-specific lots designed to meet client requirements.”
With a total capacity of £8bn, the framework is expected to provide a significant pipeline of public sector construction work once it becomes operational. Its geographical coverage also gives contractors the opportunity to compete for work across three UK nations, while the five-lot structure separates requirements according to location, sector and project value.
The new arrangement is intended to succeed SCAPE’s existing framework and incorporates changes arising from feedback from both clients and the construction industry. Its alignment with the Procurement Act 2023 also reflects the changes public sector organisations and contractors must accommodate in procurement processes.
Subject to the procurement timetable, the new framework is expected to begin in 2027 and run initially until 2031, with the potential for a two-year extension. It will cover a broad range of public sector construction requirements, from smaller works and housing maintenance through to major projects exceeding £500m.
